EU Clears Microsoft's Deal to Buy Activision Blizzard
In a win for Microsoft, the European Commission has approved the company’s bid to buy Activision Blizzard, saying the deal will benefit consumers.
The commission cleared(Opens in a new window) the deal under the condition that current and future Activision Blizzard games be made available across competing cloud gaming services for a 10-year period.
“The commitments offered by Microsoft will enable for the first time the streaming of such games in any cloud game streaming services, enhancing competition and opportunities for growth,” says Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition.
"The European Commission has required Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services. This will apply globally and will empower millions of consumers worldwide to play these games on any device they choose," Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President, said in a statement.
The approval comes weeks after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) went in the opposite direction and blocked the proposed merger, citing Microsoft’s growing influence on the cloud gaming space through Xbox Game Pass.
To assuage regulators, Microsoft has signed 10-year deals with various gaming companies promising to bring both Microsoft and Activison games to rival cloud gaming platforms. However, the UK’s CMA concluded Redmond still has the incentive to eventually make Activision games exclusive to its own cloud platforms and then raise prices for access.
Today, the CMA dug in its heels. "While we recognize and respect that the European Commission is entitled to take a different view, the CMA stands by its decision," the regulator says in a statement(Opens in a new window).
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